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The Aprehend biopesticide developed by Penn State researchers contains Beauveria bassiana, a natural and indigenous fungus that causes disease in insects but is harmless to humans. When a bedbug crosses a sprayed barrier, it picks up the fungal spores, which germinate and colonize the body, killing the bedbug in four to seven days.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As the summer travel season kicks into high gear, Penn State researchers have found a potential solution to those unwanted guests that can turn a relaxing vacation into a skin-crawling nightmare.

Anyone who has had to deal with a bedbug infestation knows that once the bloodthirsty bugs gain a foothold — be it in one’s hotel room, home or psyche — getting rid of them can be anything but easy.

Aprehend, an EPA-registered biopesticide developed at Penn State, has the potential to revolutionize the way that bedbug infestations are controlled. Based on a natural fungal disease of insects, Aprehend could be in the hands of professional pest controllers as early as the fall of 2017 — thanks to an entrepreneurial ecosystem taking root at Penn State that’s helping to take research from the lab to the marketplace.

Check out the video above to learn more about Aprehend, a patent-pending, EPA-registered biopesticide that has the potential to turn the bedbug control market on its ear — and the Invent Penn State entrepreneurial ecosystem that’s helping to push such crucial discoveries out of the laboratory and into the marketplace.

Aprehend is expected to be on the market and available to professional pest controllers during the fall of 2017.